The Israeli inventor who turns every soldier into a sharpshooter

Peloni: This is a remarkably important invention.

“Three minutes of a simple instruction given by Omer Levin, the manager of the company’s operational team, and immediately after – shooting at body targets from a distance of 200 meters, with 100% success.”

The SMASH smart fire control system has successfully countered drones and terrorists in Gaza; Smart Shooter CEO Michal Mor shares her journey of creating a revolutionary combat system now embraced by elite units in militaries worldwide

By Navit Zomer, YNET |

The phone of Michal Mor, founder and CEO of Smart Shooter, who is sitting in front of me, does not stop receiving congratulatory messages, even from abroad. The reason: on the day we met, it was announced that Israeli forces in Gaza managed to eliminate a swarm of seven attack drones using the SMASH smart fire control system, developed by the company.

And this was not the first time. SMASH proved to be particularly effective against drones in the war in the Gaza Strip, and against Hamas terrorists in face-to-face combat. The system, which has already been purchased by the IDF and other armies around the world, is now being used for the first time in wartime – and with great success. Professional military websites – including the IDF’s official website – describe it as groundbreaking.

More previously worked as a team leader for R&D groups in the missile division of Israel’s arms manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. Then, following her husband’s military reserve service in the Second Lebanon War, she came up with the idea that changed her life and sent her on a new path.

“In 2006, I was nine months pregnant, my husband who served in the Golani Infantry Brigade, got a call-up order and entered Lebanon equipped with a standard low-tech weapon. When I looked at the rifle, at the steel, I realized that I had the ability to dramatically improve the sight,” she says.

“Until the use of SMASH, the rifle was nothing more than metal. So, we incorporated into the rifle the technology used for missile interception, which I’m familiar with. The goal is to allow soldiers, certainly reservists who do not train regularly, to hit the target precisely at the first shot. During combat, a reservist does not have time to re-gain operational capabilities.”

The technology ensures precise hit of moving targets, regardless of the soldier’s level of training, including hit of drones – the new threat on the battlefield since the Ukraine war and now in Gaza and in the north against Hezbollah.

Through advanced artificial intelligence-based image processing, SMASH locks on the target and tracks its movement to synchronize the shot release for a swift and precise hit. The SMASH is much more than an optical scope – it’s a sophisticated fire control system. The system detects, among other things, the direction and speed of the target’s movement. If the barrel is not aimed exactly at the target, the trigger will not be pulled and the fighter, who follows the target through a screen, will encounter a small block.

The SMASH smart fire control system (Photo: Courtesy of Smart Shooter)

Beyond the incredible accuracy, the system can track and hit from a longer range of 200 meters (650 feet), compared to about 50 meters (165 feet) with a rifle with a normal sight, which adds to the safety of the shooter.

“I came from the world of missiles, where the goal is to minimize their use and make them surgical, with the motto being ‘minimum fire, maximum hit’,” says Mor. “Armies today, prioritize the safety of their forces and ensuring that innocent civilians remain unharmed.

“A soldier in battle is facing a complicated challenge being under physical and mental pressure, and I wanted to ensure that he could accurately hit the target while keeping him safe not only from a range of 50 meters but also when he hits from 200 meters. Think how hard it is for a soldier, while running, to hit a dynamic target – a terrorist that’s running, a vehicle that is breaking through a barrier.

“I read a NATO study that examined the probability of a hit among soldiers worldwide and concluded that the figures are not high, because both the soldier and the target are moving during battle. Our system provides ballistic calculations to reach maximum hit. In the tests we conducted, we proved that the level of accuracy when using our technology was the same for recruits and for experienced soldiers.”

The IDF were skeptical

Smart Shooter has already signed purchase agreements with the U.S., mainly for the use of the Marines, with the Netherlands, India and Germany. Last July, it was announced that the British army had purchased 225 systems for 4.6 million pounds, which will be installed on assault rifles and will also be used by special forces aiming to hit drones.

According to reports, the company is also involved in projects with the manufacturer Roboteam to integrate the system on an autonomous combat robot, and with manufacturer Steadicopter to be used for drones.

Today, in all IDF infantry units there is a rifleman equipped with the SMASH system, which costs several thousand shekels, and now in the Gaza war, it has come into use by reservists as well. The IDF has uploaded a video on its official website praising the SMASH, stating that it quadruples the forces’ chances of hitting their target, and thousands of it have already been used by the soldiers in the Gaza Strip. The proven success in wartime has increased the demand for the system worldwide.

The IDF says that it plans to increase the sight’s distribution in the near future, train more reservists to use it, improve its night operational capabilities and develop an option for soldiers to be able to identify friendly forces in order to avoid blue-on-blue incidents, which unfortunately occurs frequently in densely populated urban warfare in Gaza.

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December 25, 2023 | 31 Comments »

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  1. @Bear

    I do not accept you labeling me a neocon.

    I did not label you as a neocon. I said

    the facts don’t support the neocon narrative with which you seem so convinced

    By the way, it is ironic that you should demand not being labeled when you have apply such derision as Putin apologists to others. In any event, such child like name calling is irrelevant to the topic being discussed. You shared a neocon narrative, which was factually wrong, as I have demonstrated and which you have characterized as ‘trickery’ rather than admitting that your source was actually incorrect.

    As to the former Soviet nations being swallowed by Russia, I would advise these nations to not to seek a fight with Russia thinking that the West will save them as was Ukraine’s first mistake. If they do pick a fight with Russia and Russia offers them a deal to get out of the tar baby mess they put themselves into, I would advise them not to persist in their folly to appease the West, which was Ukraine’s second mistake.

    Have a pleasant night.

  2. There is a subtext in this conversation. It is very clear that Jews have to see reality clearly and when bias enters on one subject it will enter on another.

    Russia wàs reluctant to have war. If someone argued otherwise shrug your shoulders and leave.

    It might be argued they should have still held off. But that’s a different argument.

    Russia felt itself trapped.

    LOOK AT THE MAP.

    2
    1
  3. @Peloni try all the trickery you want. The bottom line is you support Russia, Putin and its territorial ambitions and its excuses.

    I am not upset at you by the way!

    I do not accept you labeling me a neocon. Sometimes I agree with them and sometimes I do not!

    The only labels I accept that fit is a Zionist Jew. This identification is who I am.

    Label yourself whatever you think fits.

    I support the former Soviet countries from being swallowed up by Putin and the Russian Nationalist Movement. Putin and the Russian will and have created circumstances to try and justify attacking those countries and grabbing land. You appear to buy the Putin B.S. in those Russian created circumstances. I am for free people exercising their own sovereignty.

    PS – Feel free to keep commenting on this but I am onto other stuff the rest of the evening. Erev Tov or Lila Tov!

  4. @Bear
    Don’t change the subject.

    1. Did Putin or did he not fire on Georgia as your source and you claimed. If he did, then the European fact finding mission lied in their report.

    2. Did Putin or did Putin not agree to return the Dombas to Ukraine in Istanbul? If he did not, then the Ukrainians and Bennett lied.

    Don’t get upset at me because acknowledged facts don’t support the neocon narrative with which you seem so convinced. But if you are right, then why are we being told you are wrong by parties whom we should be able to believe are not “Putin spin doctor” which you unfairly characterize me. So don’t change the subject to other matters, which we can digest next. Just address the FACTS which I put before you.

  5. @Peloni – Russia and Putin are always the victim in your set of facts!

    Russia did not try to capture Kiev in your set of facts. Russia did not want to overthrow the government in Kiev. Russia is never the aggressor and has no territorial ambitions but just defending itself from the bad guys of the world!

  6. @Bear

    keep believing Putin!

    I am not listing Putin as a source, but the Ukrainian negotiating team and Naftali Bennett. Do you think they are working for Putin too?

    So, if Ukraine didn’t want Russia running their nation, they should have settled the war in April 2022 when they had admit they had the chance to go back to the pre-2022 borders, but chose not to do so.

    PS – Fact August 1, 2008 Russia attacked Georgia.

    This is provably false. Facts require sourcing, so here you go:
    Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia

    On page 11, under paragraph 2, it states quite clearly that :

    On the night of 7 to 8 August 2008, a sustained Georgian artillery attack struck the town of Tskhinvali. Other movements of the Georgian armed forces targeting Tskhinvali and the surrounding areas were under way, and soon the fighting involved Russian, South Ossetian and Abkhaz military units and armed elements.

    This was the conclusion of the fact finding mission set up BY THE EUROPEAN UNION. You can of course hold what opinions you like, but the “facts” which you are citing are not actually factual. Georgia fired on Russia, and Russia responded with overwhelming force as anyone other than the current regime in Washington would do when their forces were attacked.

  7. @Inna2
    Forgive me, but I overlooked your response til now.

    Russians lived comfortably in Donbas, and this region was a very prosperous one

    I guess we should define parameters. If you are speaking of 2014-2022, I would say you are just wrong. If you are speaking of pre-2014, I would argue that the region was productive, but this is beyond the period which my comment addressed. So you can clarify the timeline related to your comment before we go further on that point.

    Russians and Russian speaking people are still communicating in Russian all over Ukraine.

    I did not address this topic in my comments below, but we can address the issue as it is important. The Russian schools were all transitioned to Ukrainian beginning in 2020 to be completed by 2023.

    The law “On Education” adopted in September 2017 envisages that all schooling, along with other public services, could be provided in the Ukrainian language only. The law gave a three-year transition period to fully implement the requirements, so the Minister of education Anna Novosad followed the deadline with the high accuracy.

    In January, she proposed that the teachers who worked in Russian-language schools should undergo snap training to be capable to switch to Ukrainian as the working language.

    The law “On education” retains the right of schooling in the languages other than Ukrainian only for the ethnic groups “which have no national states of their own”.

    https://www.fairplanet.org/editors-pick/schools-in-ukraine-scrap-russian-language-from-their-curricula/
    Furthermore,

    The present issue on this language agenda is the shift of all post-primary school education to Ukrainian as the major language of instruction in all of Ukraine’s state-funded schools. This reform is expected to be completed by September 2023 for schools providing instruction in minority languages that are official languages of the European Union. And in schools educating in Russian, the shift will take place as soon as the coming school year. This means that as of 1 September 2020, a minimum of eighty percent of Ukrainian-language instruction is to be introduced in publicly funded secondary education, starting from fifth year onward.[2]

    https://ukrainian-studies.ca/2020/08/01/ukraines-russian-language-secondary-schools-switch-to-ukrainian-language-instruction-a-challenge/

    So whereas your claim that Russian is spoken everywhere is not the issue, the children will no longer be schooled in Russian. Also, Russian speaking teachers were forced to know Ukrainian or become unemployed. These policies were designed to force the public to divest itself of the Russian language, something which was guaranteed under the 1991 Russian constitution, and later granted further protections under the Kivalov-Kolesnichenko law which was passed a decade ago. I know a great many people are acutely focused on this issue, but I would and do argue that this is a very small aspect of the abuses which were forced on the ethnic Russian public after the US coordinated Maidan Coup of 2014.

    Additionally, the Russian language papers were required to not print anything in Russian which was not also printed in Ukrainian in a separate paper. To do so would require the Russian language papers hire a Ukrainian writing staff to produce papers written in Ukrainian, which no Ukrainian would purchase. They all closed down as a result.

    Putin wants Crimea, Donbas, etc. – those strategic regions.

    Putin took the Crimea following the US violations of the Budapest Memorandum, which we can discuss if you like. He noticably, and distinctly, did not pursue any conquest of Dombas. Even after the Russian invasion of 2022, he negotiated for Ukraine to maintain possession of the Dombas at the Istanbul negotiations (see my latest comment to Bear for details on this). He opposed the vote for autonomy back in May 2014, he refused to negotiate on behalf of the Dombas during the Minsk accords, and he continuously held the Dombas at arms length while demanding that the war should be ended with Dombas in Ukraine. The first moves to incorporate Dombas into the RF only took place several months after the Istanbul negotiations were betrayed by the Ukrainians at the behest of Boris Johnson when Putin realized that there would be no negotiating an end to the war, at least not anytime soon.

    So, Ukrainian administration is bad, but it has nothing to do with Banderites.

    Is this why they wear swastikas on their uniforms and perform twilight torch processions. In fact, there are monuments to Banderites and German Nazi’s alike all over Ukraine. The man who was made the head of Ukraine’s NSA after the Maidan coup, Andriy Parubiy, who was also the Commandant of the Maidan, responsible for the murders during the Maidan massacre, was himself an unrepentant founder of the neoNazi Svoboda party, and he later became the head of the Ukrainian parlaiment for four years following that. Azov was a Nazi battalion. There is just too much to share which all contradicts your comment here. Also, I don’t disagree that such people may exist everywhere, but they do not sit in the halls of power everywhere, not anywhere actually. Name one person with as much authority as Parubiy held as head of the Ukrainain security, and he was not the only one to consider.

    No significant war materials and many billions of $$$ were sent.

    With all due respect, this is not true. Literally billions of dollars in hardware was sent to them, from anti-tank, anti-ship, heavy artillery, heavy tanks, armored personel carriers, drones, …

    Also, I would not accept the word of the Ukrainians nor the Russians without supporting documentation, nor should you. Here is a list of what was sent which disputes Zaluzhny’s false claims :
    https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-weapons-ammunition-america-provided-russia-invasion-list-2022-12?op=1

    Ukraine lacks the ability to bring combined arms tactics to the battlefield, and Russia can. This is why despite all the money and arms going to Ukraine, they will never win. They just don’t have the training or the manpower to beat the Russians.

  8. @Peloni we differ on Russia! The EU differs with you on Russia.

    Believe what you like, keep believing Putin!

    I do not! That is a fact!

    Ukrainians do not want Russian’s running it again. Nor do Moldovans, Poles and other eastern Europeans want Russian’s running their countries. I agree with them. Neither do many Russians want Putin running their affairs. He has got lots of them killed and wounded (315,000) with his territorial and grandiose ambitions!

    PS – Fact August 1, 2008 Russia attacked Georgia. You really sound like a Putin spin doctor! How many more people will die because of Putin’s greater Russia ambitions?

  9. @Bear
    The quoted article you shared is inaccurate, unhistorical, and unsupportable by the facts. To begin with, Russia didn’t attack Georgia in 2008. The Russian peacekeepers in Georgia were attacked by that over ambitious American puppet, Saakashvili. This was confirmed by the OSCE in their report on the matter the following year, and notably the OSCE was not particularly happy about making this fact known, but it was quite beyond dispute, even as such neocon claptraps like to pretend otherwise.

    Also

    the EU believes Russia wants to take over all of Ukraine.

    The Ukrainian negotiators who were brokering a deal with Putin two months after the war began stated clearly that Putin did not want land, but only wanted a deal and would withdraw to pre-2022 boundaries, leaving the Dombas in Ukraine. This is the same reality which Putin pushed for since 2014, and it is why Putin did not invade Ukraine in 2014 and why there were hard feelings between the ethnic Russians in the Dombas and Putin, even after he invaded – because he had not changed his position as is evident in the negotiations at Istanbul in April 2022. We need not only accept the word of the Ukrainian negotiators, though, because Bennnett described the same scenario, which was only scuttled due to the EU, in the form of Johnson, pressed Ukraine to drop the deal. So, unless the Ukrainain negotiators or Bennett are to be doubted on this point, and it would be rediculous to do so, the thesis put forward in the above quote would be best described as neocon delusions of Russian grandeur.

    So, if Russia was not intent upon seizing all, or even part, of Ukraine after their invasion, on what leap of logic might your sources consider their delusions of Russian ambitions across all of eastern Europe as materially valid. It just isn’t supportable by the facts which are not Putin rhetoric, but actually facts.

  10. European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs High Representative Josep Borrell stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in a limited territorial victory in Ukraine and will continue the war “until the final victory.”

    Russian forces are reportedly decreasing aviation activity and their use of glide bombs in Ukraine after Ukrainian forces shot down three Russian Su-34s in southern Ukraine between December 21 and 22. (now Ukraine claims 2 more or a total 5 Russian fighter/bombers shot, since this article was written)

    https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-december-24-2023

  11. Not only it is committed, as Russian President Vladimir Putin himself stated on numerous occasions, to the destruction of Ukraine’s statehood, but its ambitions extend beyond Ukraine, encompassing Moldova and Georgia as well as our NATO allies in the Baltic states and Poland.

    None of this is news to Eastern Europeans.

    As the late former president of Poland Lech Kaczynski noted in 2008, after Russia attacked Georgia, “Today Georgia, tomorrow Ukraine, the Baltic States the day after tomorrow, and then perhaps the time will come for my country, Poland.”

    America’s self-styled realists who believe a compromise can be reached with Putin — perhaps peace in exchange for some territory and promise of Ukraine’s neutrality — have a hopelessly unrealistic, naïve understanding of the Kremlin’s thinking.

    Putin’s vision is one of restoring Russia’s greatness. This is not simply a nostalgia for Soviet times, but a delusion lingering from the times when imperial Russia bordered Germany and Austria, effectively denying nationhood to half a dozen currently existing states — including Belarus, Poland, Finland and the Baltics.

    A true realism cannot shy away from the fact Russia’s officialdom does not recognize nations in its vicinity as sovereign. As a result, any deal that some would like to foist upon Ukraine would be short-lived, as long as the Kremlin remains committed to this vision.

    Ukrainians know this and would resist any attempt by the current or future US administration, or by the European Union, to strike a bargain with Putin.

    Of course, both the United States and Europe have a lot of leverage over Kyiv. The EU’s total military and financial commitments to Ukraine exceed $90 billion. The United States comes in second with a little under $75 billion.

    But while withdrawing those lifelines would certainly alienate Ukraine, it would not necessarily stop the fight. More likely, it would force Ukrainians to turn for help elsewhere — and wage war using means we might not approve of.

    Critics are correct. Our assistance to Ukraine does not come cheap — something Ukrainians and our allies in Poland (where I’m writing this column) keenly appreciate. But it is much cheaper than the alternatives.

    Consider, for example, the signal that striking a deal with Putin behind Ukraine’s back would send to our partners and adversaries around the globe. In Europe, our NATO allies would have good reasons to doubt our commitment to the alliance.

    Ukrainians do not want Russian’s running it again. Nor do Moldovans, Poles and other eastern Europeans want Russian’s running their countries.

  12. @Peloni the EU believes Russia wants to take over all of Ukraine. If they are not capable now, if they believe they are capable later they will try again. They failed in their attempted blitzkrieg to take over Kiev and surroundings because of their dismal failed offensive.

    The Russian’s have mounted a strong defense in keeping the Ukrainians from recapturing the eastern parts of Ukraine they hold.

    I know the above runs counter to Putin’s talking points which apparently you believe.

  13. Interesting weapon system. Was the IDF using it, when they killed three hostages with friendly fire? If so, we can see its limitations.

    Bear, I’m with you on Ukraine. Peloni and Felix, frankly, are suffering from some kind of insanity. Putin is a psychopath and an opportunist. He treats his own citizens, soldiers and civilians alike, like pieces of meat. Bering friendly to Putin, is like being friendly to a rabid dog.

  14. @Peloni
    “to protect the Russians who were being slaughtered in the Dombas.” Where did you take this info from? Who were slaughtered? Russians lived comfortably in Donbas, and this region was a very prosperous one. Not now. Russians and Russian speaking people are still communicating in Russian all over Ukraine. This argument is just funny. Yes, Putin wants Crimea, Donbas, etc. – those strategic regions. Yes, most probably RF will win because the USA and EU/NATO do not want Ukraine to win. Lend Lease could help tremendously, but it did not start. Ukrainian administration is terrible. Yermak, Markarova, Kuleba, etc. are corrupt and connected to Russia. They were against American Lend Lease (!?), were very angry at Ukrainian Diaspora UA when it tried to persuade politicians to enforce Biden to start it. Ukraine always vote against Israel in UN with Russia and Arab countries, which is quite surprising, especially now. So, Ukrainian administration is bad, but it has nothing to do with Banderites. Yes, they are nationalists/antisemites, but we have same people everywhere, USA included. As of “the pathetic results of sending Ukraine billions of dollars and significant war materials over the past year” – you have wrong information. Those numbers are in open access. No significant war materials and many billions of $$$ were sent. Read the interview in Washington Post with Ukrainian chief general Zaluzhny. Ukraine does not have enough weapons, the sky is not protected, dollars are used not on weapons but mostly on “Climate change, LGBT, etc.” programs. The West does not want this war to end, the same as with the war in Israel.

  15. And the truth war

    Arab blogger
    @hodajannat
    writes:

    ?Suddenly we discovered that Gaza, which is inhabited by 2 million people, has 36 hospitals. There are Arab countries with 30 million citizens and do not have this number of hospitals.

    ?Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was getting water, electricity, gas, and fuel for free from Israel.

    ?Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was receiving $30 million a month from Qatar alone
    ?And $120 million a month from UNRWA
    ?And $50 million a month from the European Union
    ?And 30 million dollars a month from America.
    There are Arab countries drowning in debt and cannot find anyone to help them, even with one million dollars.

    ?Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was living better than many Arab countries and its people were living better than many Arab peoples.

    ?? Suddenly we discovered that our minds were besieged by a programmed lie by the (Muslim) Brotherhood media. Look

  16. As Peloni says this gives Jews here an edge. Must use it

    This means a number of things

    In short form for clarity

    Redesign of battlefield in Gaza

    Means air attack and idf an army of snipers from 200 meters back and in chaos chances for hostage escape

    No more storming hand to hand

    Result virtual no idf losses or hardly any

    Definitely now possible give Putin a deal for this weapon and for cover at the UN

    A gamewinner

  17. Peloni…it is reality that perhaps a million, in any case a lot of Ukrainians have been sacrificed. Proof the antagonisms in top circles, their aiming to have exiles returned to die, for women to be forced in.

    Such massive death numbers. Putin tried everything to avoid this especially in Turkey meeting in 2022. It was signed but Johnson blocked the Ukrainian side

    That is a huge tragedy and responsibility

    The Banderites were a narrow social demographic. But they were classic, very violent fascist.

    And WITHOUT A PARTY anywhere you are lost.

    The Fascist Banderism was as tools of NATO riding high…the opposition destroyed by Stalinism.

    And there was only Putin left and since Russia was fighting to survive against Biden of course what was the alternative.

    There is always remnants of the Whites in these circles only too ready to join with Nazis.

    Despite winning easily Russia is still very vulnerable since the cards have always been played by NATO long range powerful rockets guided from just outside Ukraine. This still has possibility of thermo nuclear world war.

  18. @Bear

    Does that mean they are their way to taking over all or most of Ukraine?

    Or does it mean they are not being pushed out of the eastern parts of Ukraine where they currently are?

    The only reason Russia might seek to conquer the Galician rump of Ukraine would be to deprive Poland the means of doing so instead. In fact, Russia may choose this route, but nothing so far has indicated that this is among their war aims. Furthermore, if Russia would seek such a path it would result in her holding a beehive filled with Nazis and Ukrainian nationalists, and without the means of offloading these vile fellows somewhere else, much as exists in Gaza today with Israel. So, no, I would not see conquering all of Ukraine as a victory for Russia, though she has territory aplenty on the near side of the Dnieper River still before her, and perhaps a bit further than that, which would not be judged so toxic as the further reaches of what remains of the Ukrainian rump. The extent of the Russian conquest should however be understood to be secondary to the war aims which were stated above, and thereby irrelevant to what should constitute victory for Russia or defeat for the West.

  19. @Bear
    I understand that you believe that Russia entered this war to overtake Ukraine.

    This was never the case, and Putin stated as much at the time. Putin’s aims were to keep NATO out of Ukraine, to end the current regime in Ukraine, and to protect the Russians who were being slaughtered in the Dombas. Now that is just Russia. Meanwhile, the West have stated that their goal in this war is to regime change Russia and conquer the Dombas. Under any calculus, given these stated war aims, Russia is infinitely closer to their goals than the West is to their own. The West have shot their lot in this war and Russia continues to gain ground. Of course, the war was never intended to be fought on the battlefield because the US piracy in steeling Russian assets while cutting Russia out of Western markets was intended to create economic upheaval in Russia and result in their desired war aim of regime change. Fortunately for Russia, the West’s greatest control over Russia now having been exercised, did little more than make Russia immune to any further economic influence coming from the West. Also, the vilification of the Russians in the early hours of Russia’s invasion actually motivated the Russians towards the conclusion that this war was not specifically against the Russian regime, but against Russians in general, which added to the defeat of the West’s regime change war aim.

    It has now been over a year since the West have had anything meaningful upon which to boast in this war, and the pathetic results of sending Ukraine billions of dollars and significant war materials over the past year has led to a Ukrainian defeat which even the US Congressional Ukrainian Caucus as well as the Ukrainians themselves have recently lamented.

    So when you ask me if Russia is winning this war, my only response would be a nonplussed ‘of course’.

    Regarding the new super-toy coming in the form of the Dutch F-16s, I would inquire if these are coming complete with Dutch pilots to pilot them, and if not how long might an amateur Ukrainian last before being picked out of the sky by the well trained and veteran Russian pilots. I think we have seen this sort of ‘game changing war toys’ play out previously with the heavy tanks last year,and the Himars before that. The end result was simply to see greater numbers of dead on both sides with Russia still advancing, which places Ukraine rather than Russia at a strategic disadvantage as is apparent with the increasing age of the Ukrainian soldiery. To be certain, the Himars provided Ukraine with an advantage, as did the tanks and armored vehicles, as will the F16s. The problem is that the Himars/tanks didn’t, and the F16s arguably won’t, provide Ukraine with the means of changing the trend of victory which is going against them. To be certain, a lack of an effective air-force has played a role in Ukraine’s issues, but so too did the lack of tanks and the lack of heavy artillery. The only question which should be considered is if the limited number of planes coming to Ukraine will be able to change the battlefield dynamics when these planes are piloted with Ukrainian trainees. Ritter joined the Neocons in claiming that the Himars would be a game changer, and later the tanks were argued by others to be THE must have to win the war. Now we are talking about F16s.

    Mark me down for a strong wager that that this latest boondangle ‘game changer’ will not change the game, but will at best(worst?) lengthen the war, and see a good many more Slavic battlefield casualties as a result. Yet, this I would argue is the limit of what we will see come from this latest Pyrrhic toy offered to Ukraine to offset their real deficiency which is combined arms tactics which Ukaine is not trained to effect and has failed to develop during its two year long venture to defeat Russia.

    The slaughter which will likely ensue will no doubt be quite enough for the Neocons whose secondary interests in this war is to have Ukraine consumed as a vehicle of slaughter of Russians in their latest pointlessly useless example of military misadventure.

  20. @Peloni you really truly believe that Russia is winning the war. Define winning the war please. Does that mean they are their way to taking over all or most of Ukraine?

    Or does it mean they are not being pushed out of the eastern parts of Ukraine where they currently are?

    You are aware Ukraine is about to receive Dutch F-16s?

  21. The use of this SMASH tech to counter drones as well as combat troops provides an important context to the Israeli-Russian relationship. In fact, Russia’s war in Ukraine is well on its way to being won, and once their victory has been settled, the role of drones in strengthening Russia’s hand in this conflict can hardly be ignored. Thus far, Israel alone is the only army to use this tech in battle, and should it be kept as such, it would behoove Russia to reconsider her natinoal interests as it relates to strengthening ties with Israel’s enemies. Of course, the US neocons will be determined to have their Ukrainian puppet gain access to the SMASH tech, but Israel would be quite foolish to allow such a thing to take place. Israel has had every interest in remaining neutral in that regional conflict and has thus far largely remained as such despite the Neocon efforts to the contrary. Hopefully, by continuing their neutrality, and withholding the SMASH tech from Ukraine, Russia will once again find strengthening her relationship with Israel to be in her greater national interest. To be honest, Israel could use a second ally on the UNSC to balance against the growing pressure being placed on Israel from America. Something to consider.

  22. @Bear
    Exactly so, transforming the entire army into expert marksmen, limited only by the system’s battery life of about two days.

  23. @Peloni I was never a good shot. That is why I prefer shot guns or for a while used an Uzi. This weapon system would even work for people like me.

  24. @Bear
    Yes, they describe this in the article. This has the means to radically change battlefield dynamics. Absolutely brilliant!